MAXIMUM RIDE: Crossed
by EyelinerUsing-Daydreamer
Summary: The Flock has settled down after the initial taking down of the School. Mr. Chu retaliates, and more experiments are released. Will the Flock find the strength to stay together? Or will they let the failing government & Mr. Chu corrupt the world? Lang.
1. Starring SemiFinals

**Chapter 1**

School was exactly what everyone thought it was, a place to hang out and be with friends for an extended time of six to eight hours. But it had an unfortunate technicality: we actually had to _learn._ Something not all kids had the attention span to do, like me, for instance. After years and years of running from evil scientists and dodging the clawed hands of Erasers, it was not so surprisingly hard to sit still in one of the uncomfortable chairs strewn around the small room.

I ignored the teacher with practiced talent and kept all of my attention on the task at hand: winning the starring contest I had going on with Fang, err, Nick.

"_Maxine._" Okay, maybe I still needed a little practice. I recognized my "name" being seethed out of Mrs. Orla's crooked yellow teeth for the fifth time before I looked up. Fang whooped silently and leant back into his chair.

"Yes, Mrs. O?" I answered back at politely as I could, seeing that she had just made me lose the Starring Semi-Finals.

"The front office called for you," she said, holding out a piece of paper. I rolled my eyes in a bored fashion, using it as an opening to glance at Fang. His face was virtually blank, but for those who are Ninja in the art of Fang, you could see the slight twitch in his eyebrows. He was just as confused as I was. So, getting up I strung my backpack over my shoulder and took the note from the teacher before exiting the room without another glance.

The walk to the office was long and weird. I know, I know, _Max you're hardly one to talk._ Yeah, but I thought the word applied in this particular situation. From everyone that I passed I would receive a cautious glance over the shoulder, with what I would consider, a little bit of fear in their eyes. What ever the reason was for calling me to the office, it had to be something someone had already knew about.

I scoffed, if Iggy had decided to pull another prank on me, he was going to get it when we got home. Pushing through the double doors, I entered the cold room known as the front office and immediately turned towards the reception desk.

"Can I help you?" The lady on the other side asked, looking up above her computer screen for just a moment. I shrugged, not really knowing if I should answer the question and instead said:

"I'm Maxine Martinez." The lady glanced at me again; only this time her brown eyes reflected exactly what I had seen on the passing students. Fear.

"Through those doors," she said pointing behind me. "Principal Reynolds is waiting for you." The principal? Oh, jeez. What did Iggy and Gazzy do this time? I nodded and turned towards the doors, striding up to them quickly before catching a quick glance of a T.V. in the far back of the room.

_"—You have seen these six kids, the senate is asking you to please confine them until the authorities arrive. Remember, YOU may be saving lives..." _I was dumbstruck as my picture scrolled across the screen, followed by fuzzy pictures of Fang, Iggy and Angel. Nudges and Gazzy's were just as clear as mine. Well, that shows you who are the cautious ones, right?

I suddenly knew why I was being called into the office. A slight glance out the back doors would reveal a half dozen police cruisers and a small glimpse of the hall way I was about to enter would signal all the officers to go into action. I turned around immediately and ran out the double doors, hitting them with a loud SMACK! My own fear spiked as I ran across campus towards the classrooms known to be for the younger students.

"Flight!" I yelled loudly, followed by some words that we had made up in the School. Words that I hoped would reach the kids ears and help them escape whatever danger they might be in at the moment, weather it be failing a spelling test, or being bombarded by police tazers.

As I kept running, I heard padded footsteps and was relieved to see Angel quickly catching up to me with Gazzy not that far behind. I continued to scream as we raced through the hall towards the back entrance to the school—and my classroom. The one I had left Fang alone in. Iggy and Nudge joined us just as fast as we were running and I was relieved when we rounded a corner and Fang was just punching the lights out of some administrator twice his size. My heart must have grown two sizes seeing him in such a defensive mood.

As we reached him the administrator fell to the ground, unconscious. Fang grinned crookedly at me before we both kicked the back doors open, sending them flying a good ten feet in front of us. I tore off my jumper and quickly unfurled my wings, jumping into the sky as soon as I saw Angel reach the fifteen-foot mark. Making sure I was the last one up, I pumped my wings hard and catch some better lifts. Soon enough we were soaring high in the sky, circling the school.

"Holy..." Fang mumbled as he glanced down seeing the school almost entirely surrounded by police force cruisers. What had we done? Was all I could ask myself as I led the flock away from the school and to the place we had been staying for nearly four months with no interruptions. My mom's house. Dr. Martinez.

* * *

_Hello there Eyeliner_Vampire here! So, Daydreamer and I were in English class with our friend Sabrina(who is also helping us) and we thought that James Patterson was losing the over-all plot of Maximum Ride, and we decided to make what we think the next book should be like._

_Well, thats all for now. Stay tuned, and fly high!_

_-EyelinerUsing_Daydreamer_


	2. Humbots

**Chapter 2**

_Tick...Tick...Tick... _Everyone can recognize that sound. The steady ticking of a clock, unceasing and subtle. But what did that sound mean? To you it simply means the passing of time, and on occasion, a reminder that you have to hurry to catch a bus or to get to your date's house on time or whatever it is you guys do. But for us, it goes much deeper. For us it means the passing of precious, all too important moments. With every tick my heart speeds up and my nerves twinge.

I looked at the watch I had stolen from one of the Humbots that came in and gave us food (Not that he needed it, in fact it was there to make him look more human). The green numbers read 12:17 p.m. I sighed; if we wanted this to work we had to move now.

The others were lying in their cots around me, waiting nervously. For their sake and mine this had to work, this was our last chance.

I was silent a moment in my thoughts before I spoke in a barely audible whisper, "Go, Minnow."

She nodded and touched the wall near the security camera. An expression of intense concentration glazed over her face and a second later her pupils dilated, it was her tell. A second later the camera's operation froze.

"Everybody up!" I said, "get near the door." The others sprang up silently.

"Hurry, Mira," she urged, "You've only got a minute and a half."

This was to be the most challenging image of my life. I cleared my mind completely save for the faces of my friends. It started as a picture in my head, then, like a fog rolling in, it formed in the room getting more and more visible until what looked like 6 solid, teenagers were asleep in their cots.

"30 seconds," warned Minnow.

"Smidge, you're up."

She came forward and said in her slight Australian twang. "Everyone grab hold of my arms, and take a deep breath."

We all obliged. After a moment of concentration her eyes flashed silver and the next thing we knew we were teleported on the other side of the door.

"Time." Called Minnow.

We all got out with no time to spare. Phase 1 complete.

"Ok, Ozzie, do your stuff." Encouraged Smidge.

The slender blonde nodded once and started her transformation. With a little twitch of her eyebrow she jumped up and changed into a roach. I cringed a little before she scuttled quickly ahead of us and rounded a corner. As we came to it she crawled back our way and changed into her human form, or whatever it was you would call us.

"All clear, no Humbots." She reported and we snuck on. At the end of every hallway we repeated the process, and each time Ozzie came back with the same message. Our advance was slow and agonizing. But we eventually made it to the Promised Land—or at least 15 feet away. We breezed forward to the doors. Right there, Freedom was right there! We had done it! We'd escaped! We were about to burst through those blessed gates when a voice, metallic and static-y spoke.

"Halt!"

We froze and turned slowly around.

Right there with machine guns sticking out of their arms were at least 3 dozen Humbots. Crap.

"Unauthorized personnel will be terminated." The one in the front droned. That's when we realized, they didn't know who we were. The looks on the other's faces confirmed it.

"We're sorry sir," lied Shady, her voice smooth as silk.

The Humbot wasn't moved. "Unauthorized personnel will be terminated," it repeated.

"Step forward with your arms up."

None of us moved.

"Step forward with your arms up," it said again.

This time Shady stepped up...and sent a blast of electric power straight at the Humbots.

She managed to take out ten of them. Unfortunately, the rest counterattacked with a round of bullets each.

We scattered and the fight was on. Minnow unsheathed her claws, Wolverine style, and went to work. Ozzie transformed again, this time into a tiger. She was unstoppable, taking on seven at a time. The rest of us skirmished around beating and dodging. A Humbot went straight for me and I gave chase...until it had me cornered. I was trapped and escape was impossible.

"C'mon then! Gimme your best shot!" I screamed.

The Humbots gun slid out of its out and a round of shots headed right towards me--and right through me. He was dumbfounded, well as much of that as a robot can be. Upset, I guessed, he tried again and again and again.

"I'm intangible stupid!" I yelled again and went straight towards him. Leaping up, I readied my fist. Just as my feet left the ground I swung down to the middle of his head. With lots of guts and gore it split apart. Slightly queasy, I returned to the battle taking another couple of the Humbots. Checking on our progress I saw Graves swarmed by a good 15 of them. He tried desperately to fight them off but his eyes glazed over, causing him to be overpowered.

"Graves!" I screamed.

"I'm on it!" responded Shady while finishing off another ten Humbots. She bounded over to him and let out her biggest power surge yet, taking out the remaining Humbots.

"Whoa," breathed Minnow, sheathing her claws. "That was awesome!"

"Amazement later! Right now we gotta jet!" Ozzie urged.

MRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMRMR

Hours later we found ourselves inside of a nondescript diner on an abandoned road. The place was probably from the late 70's and had long since out lived its glory. The tile was yellow and dented and the walls were covered with wallpaper from the 90's.

"So what now?" Asked Graves.

"We need help. We can't keep this up on our own." I answered as the soft fuzz of a T.V in the background, channeled on six o'clock news, made it to my ears. I had to resist turning around.

"Help? Who the hell is going to help a bunch of whacked up kids on the run?" he challenged, lowering his voice from the people around us eating casualty.

"I didn't finish," I tensed back, " To answer that I happen to know someone whose likely to help us out, someone who'll get our situation."

"Yeah? Who?"

I paused, hearing the name come out of the news broadcasters mouth before I jerked my thumb towards the T.V. "We—We're going to track down _Maximum Ride_." Everyone stared at the pictures of her now flowing across the screen. I didn't need to look at the machine to know that something was up with Max's flock for them to be so hugely broadcasted. I had met them once before in a previous escape plan that had failed miserably for us, but they had gotten away just barely. I hoped I was making the right decision.

* * *

_Eyeliner_Vampire here again THOUGH I did NOT write this chapter. Daydreamer747 did :D It's great right? Just remember, the more reviews we get, the longer the chapters will be and the faster the up-dates will (hopefully) be._

_So click that middle button and drop a review and leave some feedback! Please!_

_Daydreamer747 here! Aw shucks it's not that great. Anyways yeah review. we love feedback and check out the poll on the profile! CYA! ;-)_


	3. Getting Trigger Happy

**Chapter Three**

Just when I thought today couldn't get any weirder, Fang, Mister Tall, Dark, and Silent, spoke up. Wiping the cookie crumbs from the corners of his mouth, he mumbled in that low voice of his:

"Maybe everyone's just getting sick of us." Slightly in shock, I could only shake my head and let my mind shift into "sarcastic autopilot".

"Speak for yourself."

"Hm." I thought I saw Fang roll his eyes.

"Where's Gazzy's birthmark?" I watched as Fang's head subconsciously tilted to the right, his bangs falling.

"Why?" He asked simply, one eye sparkling.

"Just makin' sure you haven't been swapped with a clone lately." I hummed, pretending to be scrutinizing him. I mean, come on, were fourteen-year-old kids (and some younger) who have _wings._ And can _fly._ How can you get sick of that kind of thing?

"Max thinks it's impossible." Angel voiced my rambling thoughts while I continued to stare into Fang's contemplative eyes. The rest of his face was blank, something that the kids and I had nicknamed as his "bored" expression. Seriously, I wondered how much concentration Fang had to put in just to keep from smiling sometimes.

I'm rambling again.

Angel giggled and I shot her a slightly amused expression that she mirrored. My mom, who had watched the whole exchange, washed her hands from melted chocolate.

"What ever is going on I hope it's over soon. You've all been settled for sometime now. It puzzles me that it's all-of-a-sudden picking up again." I sat at the kitchen counter numbly munching on the last delicious chocolate cookie. Iggy and Gazzy had exited to the living room where they were now happily playing Halo 3. The blind guy shouting with joy as he took out Gazzy's character for the fifth time.

"C'mon! How do you always know where I am?" Gazzy complained, but I didn't bother listening to Iggy's boasting. There were too many things swirling around in my head, my stomach was clenching unhappily. Angel and Nudge had decided it was a good time to take a flight outside.

Mom, finishing with the dishes, switched on the small TV she had installed in the side of the kitchen wall, flipping it to channel 6 news. Besides the manhunt at school, everything had been pretty quiet. Which is translated to: Once we had gotten home, after the fight with my mom, everything was…weird.

Small mentions of my name on the scrolling text at the bottom of the screen made my mother sigh unhappily.

"Thank goodness you convinced me to change the address's on you applications for school," she said, a hand over her heart and a grateful smile on her face. I almost smiled back. Almost. But then the stupid journalist (REVIEW IF YOU LOVE JOURNALISM!) Mia May interrupted the sweet moment with the annoying beeping music that sounded like something from the Da Vinci Code and the top of the screen basically screamed BREAKING NEWS!

"The county service department is thanking everyone that called in tips of the fugitives whereabouts. An important one was of the spotting of flying kids heading towards this neighborhood." May stated, standing just outside our neighbors house. I sucked in a deep breath, my mind wheeling at the thought of Angel and Nudge being accidentally spotted.

_Angel!_ I screamed in my head, jumping off the stool backwards and rushing towards the big TV, changing it on Iggy and Gazzy, to the channel in the kitchen.

"Hey—" Gazzy started to argue, but when he saw my face shinning brightly on the screen he stopped, his childish anger expression fading quickly.

"What? What's going on?" Iggy asked, dropping his controller and listening intently.

My attention was split between the reporter and sound of the backdoor opening slowly. I turned till I saw and heard Nudge and Angel stepping through the door quietly, closing the door with a soft _click_.

"Angel! Nudge!" I whispered/yelled as my baby and Nudge made there way towards me. I hugged them both before turning back to the TV.

"Turn it up!" I demanded, sitting on the back of the couch and getting situated. Fang settled on the arm of the chair as Angel and Nudge sat down like the _normal _kids they were.

"We are right outside the supposed 'hide-a-way' of the very well-known Flock. Citizens have continued to call in, giving the police department tips, and we'd all just like to thank you all for the help." My eyes widened as I saw the house they were now shooting in front of. Police were surrounding the front porch that I knew so well, and SWAT teams were sneaking around back.

Oh _shiznit_. "Mom!" I yelled as quietly as I could, and I suddenly felt a sort of normalcy. Yelling for my mother was something I never got to do. I vaguely heard something clatter in the kitchen sick before a very shrill scream reached my ears. My anxiety hit the roof as I ran towards the kitchen, hoping that my mother was just over-reaching. Either way, she just gave away our position in the house. God_dang_ it!

"What's wrong?" My voice echoed around the kitchen as I saw my mother shaking, starring out the window wide-eyed. Not using my instincts, I _carefully_ moved to stand beside my mother—and was faced with a semi-automatic handgun pointed at my chest.

Someone must've leaked that I didn't like guns. My body froze, but my mind was reeling. Taking in all the options I had: If we stayed in this position the officer was surely going to take us into custody. If I tried to move, I would no doubt be shot down.

Crap. Double crap. Jeez, I'm just turning into a real potty mouth.

_Angel, get everyone up stairs._ I thought angrily, hoping she wouldn't question me.

_Okay, _was all she said, and I almost sighed in relief when I heard five pairs of feet hit the first stair.

But suddenly I felt a tinge of disappointed that Fang hadn't been the rebel he was and stayed to help me anyways, no matter what I said. "When I say three," I mumbled, trying not to move my lips, I was suddenly thankful the widow was always kept closed. I felt my mom shake softly and took it as an agreement to do what I said. _"Three_!" I said loudly, pulling her to the ground with me as I lead her towards the stairs. A rain of bullets shattered the window and I heard someone scream. As soon as the blasting stopped I pushed my mom halfway up the stairs, watching her stumbling the rest of the way before I checked myself for any bleeding bullet holes.

Nope, none. I guess today was my lucky day. _Enter sarcasm here_.

I snuck quietly around, staying away from windows and glass doors. I hit my head numerous times trying to figure out a plan, but it looked like my head was empty. I stopped the abuse when a headache flitted into my brain causing it to _ache, _black dots entered my vision.

Ouch. I groaned as I fell flat on the floor, holding my head in my hands and biting my lip so hard the taste of blood filled my mouth.

"Max?" Fang's voice momentarily brought me out of my pain coma as I lifted my arms to see him looking around the room, probably looking for me dying on the floor somewhere. Which, I _was._

"Fang—" I gasped as bright lights exploded in front of my eyes and a nuke went off in my brain, destroying any sign of thought. Everything seemed to spin around and around as a strong pair of arms wrapped themselves over my shoulders.

"Shhhh…" came a voice in my ear as my body twitched and seized out of my control. Eardrums ringing, I felt the room suddenly still. There was a dull ache in my head, but it was heaven compared to what happened next.

The doors busted in from all directions, some windows even shattered. Pieces of glass strung my face and arms as Fang held onto me protectively.

"Step back and put your hands behind your head!" Fang looked up scarily through his black bangs and growled as only a bird kid could.

"Fang, don't." I coughed, "we can't hurt them…" I whispered, struggling to stay conscious. His expression changed as he looked down at me. The officer repeated his demand and Fang gently set me back down on the ground and placed his hands behind his head as the SWAT team rushed in and cuffed his hands behind his back. They surrounded me too, and after seeing my blood shot eyes, they decided a hospital might be a good place for me.

One picked me up and set me on my feet, holding me at my elbows as he forced me to walk.

"Where are the others?" The head officer asked, a glass shield blocking his face. I sneered at him, summing up my best scary-pissed off glare.

"There gone." I said in a dead tone, hoping they'd believe me.

"To where?" I almost snickered, a perfect opening. I looked to Fang as discretely as I could, the officers were still having trouble restraining him completely. I changed my expression again and watched the floor for a moment before looking up at the ceiling as if praying. Some of the officers gasped.

"Search for bodies—"

"No," the headman cut off a panicking officer, watching me as I met his cold glare. "She wants us to believe that." He paused and looked towards Fang before gesturing to the staircase. "I want every room searched. Tear it apart if you have to." I wanted so bad to rip his throat out at that moment. He was putting my family in jeopardy.

_Angel, get everyone out, NOW!_ I screamed in my still pounding head.

I was shoved roughly out the door, followed closely by Fang. The light from the photographers and the sun made my head spin once more. My legs wobbled and threatened to give out but the officer had, unfortunately, seen the display and picked me up, carrying my weight on his shoulders.

**You know this is not right, Max.**

I half expected I'M BAAAAACK! To echo in my brain, and was quite disappointed when nothing but my idiotic thoughts could be heard.

_There's nothing I, we, can do, Voice. _I sighed mentally, hoping it would hear.

**There is always another way out.** It replied in that oh-so monotone voice.

_My common sense is tingling. _My eyes rolled unintentionally as the officer laid me down in the back of an ambulance. I had only been in one before, and that was a time I did not want to remember.

**Remember the School? If you let you and the rest of your family get captured, that's what will happen. History always repeats itself, Max.**

I thought long and hard on this statement as I physically felt the Voice leave my brain in peace, and by long in hard, I meant in the whole five seconds it took to knock out the officer cuffing me to the bed with a kick to the head. Hey, there's some bird-kid poetry for ya! I was out of the big van in no time at all and stumbled onto the ground as the blood rushed back into my limbs.

"Hey!" Somebody yelled, rushing towards me, but I ignored them and continued my strut towards the cops having a hard time shoving Fang into a very cramped police car. His eyes met mine momentarily before he used his uncanny strength to push back all the officers and knock them all to the ground. Wait, forget I said anything. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Angel, Nudge, Gazzy, Iggy, my mom, and Ella being pushed out of the house in a rush, hands being cuffed behind their backs.

I didn't wait another second before I sprinted for them, jumping feet first onto the pudgy officer holding my baby. Iggy took this time to give a mean left hook to the officer currently trying to restrain a panicking Ella, who immediately afterwards started defending her mother. In something I could only describe as a domino effect, all of the cops were down and out for the count. Fang was already taking out the rest of the cops blocking our way.

Spinning on my heel, I did a full 360, analyzing every escape route we could have taken on foot, seeing at though mom and Ella could not fly...unless there was something they were keeping from me. Looking up instinctively I saw there was absolutely nothing blocking our way in the sky, not a single jet, plane, or helicopter.

"Nudge, could you carry Ella's weight with some help from Gazzy and Angel?" I asked her quickly, and she nodded, speechless. Or maybe I was thinking too much to hear her. I nodded my approval and gave them quick instructions. "When I give the signal I want you three to carry Ella out of here, mom, Fang, Iggy and I will be right behind you. What ever you do, don't look back and don't stop flying." Without waiting for a reply I spun again and ran to help Fang take out the last of the officers standing.

"Hold it!" A member of the SWAT team shouted, holding his cocked gun to us as he approached.

"Now!" I yelled without turning around and was filled with relief when I heard the steady flapping of wings. Grabbing Fang's unclenched hand I pulled him as fast as I could back towards Iggy and my mother, who were promptly forgotten by the bystanders at the sight of actually flying _kids_. "Iggy, take moms left side!" I yelled out, along with some degree points and he fastened his grip along her shoulder and hip.

"Sorry for this, Dr. Martinez." He said, his unseeing eyes finding hers with frightening accuracy. I grabbed my mother's other half and Fang followed suit, grabbing a hold of her legs.

"U and A!" I shouted and unfurled my wings quickly, watching as Iggy and Fang mimicked me. Without a running leap, we picked ourselves off the ground using hard down strokes, syncing our pumps as to not collide with one another.

10…15…20…30 feet and climbing. The air was cool around us, despite the blazing sun, until the continuous firing of guns disturbed it. My heart rate and breathing picked up as we flew faster, doing everything we could to keep out of the bullets range. I was scared that my mom would get hit, from the way we were carrying her, she was sure the more vulnerable target. But, as we pressed on we managed to make it without one single hole. That was, until all the firing ceased and only one shot vibrated the air. The one shot that would have been impossible to aim for at the height and speed we were moving.

_"SHIT_!" I screamed involuntarily as the searing pain quickly numbed my leg. The smell of blood was almost too overwhelming and I was seconds away from dropping the body I was carrying until Fang's hand touched mine.

"Only a couple more miles, Max. Stay conscious." He added the last part when he felt my arms shaking. I could—would do it for my mom, who was bound to fall from the sky if I were to suddenly lose consciousness. I could feel the blood oozing quickly down my leg as we progressed, watching the little ones ahead of us signal for a landing. In my head, I was almost sure I was jumping for joy, but in reality I could barely keep my eyes open, despite the cool hand that was pressed onto my arm.

"Max, sweetie, hang in there. As soon as I'm on solid ground again, we'll get the bullet out." As we caught up to Angel and the others they confessed that they were scared to land, with the fact that one way or another they would hurt Ella. I told them that we would land first and Fang would come and take Ella down for them, though it didn't really work out that way. As the younger kids were hovering above, trying to keep their grip on my little sister, Iggy, Fang, mom and I fell to the ground wheezing. Black dots had filled my vision and at the time I could barely stand, but when Ella's scream made my eardrums ring; I suddenly found the strength to flap my wings and launch myself into the air.

Being the first one to react to Ella's falling and flailing body, I was 40 feet in the air by the time anyone on the ground could speculate what I was doing. More blood pored out of my body as Ella's body weight collided with mine, causing my wings to crumble and give way. We were free falling. And from this height, no one would survive.

Luckily, Fang reacted soon after the collision and flew up quickly relieving myself of Ella's dead weight. Only problem there, I couldn't feel my wings.

"Max!" Ella and Fang yelled as the air was punched out of my body, and my head exploded into stars for the second time that day.

A low rumbling sound echoed in my head as I willed my eyes to open. The bright sun light blinded me momentarily and I had to blink a few times before I could see clearly again. That's when the pain hit me. Oh, it was horrible, but don't let Fang know I said that.

The low rumbling sound that I could have sworn was my stomach, sounded from somewhere near where my feet were located. I had no way of telling where exactly they were, seeing at though I couldn't feel them properly. Gasping softly, I found the courage to lift my head and see what was going on.

Fang, in that same protective stance he used at the school, was standing only a few feet in front of me, the flock following his example of defensive mode.

"What's going on?" I asked, my own voice giving me a splitting headache. It was then that I saw what they were all starring at. I big bunch of kids standing close to one another. And they all had _wings_. There was a girl in the middle wearing a satisfied smirk, she looked terribly familiar, but I just couldn't place it.

Then she met my eyes, and only one thing crossed my head.

_Shit._

* * *

_Hey guys! It's me, Eyeliner_Vampire, and I just wanted to thank everyone that reviewed. You guys are really the best and if I could give you a present, I would. I really would. Well, keep on reviewing, and the chapters will keep coming._

_:] Oh, and I just came back from a bowling game. We won! So, REVIEW IF YOUR HAPPY FOR US!_


	4. Mira

_Daydreamer: Hi all! So this is a reply to Mustangridervwhc: thanks for the review! And keep reading! Oh, and it's 100% my fault that this took a while…sorry!_

_ON WITH THE STORY!!!!!_

"Mira?" Screamed a frazzled Max. She was lying on the ground and she looked like a mess. Her wings were half opened and at awkward angles and her leg was bleeding badly, dried blood was encrusted onto her jeans.

"In the flesh," I replied "What up cuz?"

The look of confusion grew on her features. "I thought you were dead!" she said numbly.

"No, we were doing much worse than that, but that's not important." I exclaimed.

"Max," someone said, looking around I saw a woman lying on the ground. She was about Max's height and wore a flour-smudged apron like she'd been baking. "You know these kids?"

"Yeah," she winced simply, "we tried to help them escape from one of Mr. Chu's labs once, when we were trying to get to you, mom."

Mom? This was Max's mom? I looked subtly from Max to the woman. They did kind of have a resemblance…

"Yeah, and we couldn't help but notice you didn't even mention us on your website! I have half a mind to sue." Snapped the oh-so-cheery Graves.

Smidge clocked him upside the head and scolded him. "Graves, be nice!"

Graves just glared and muttered, "I'm not a dog."

"Hey!" gasped Ozzie, "what do you have against dogs?"

"Nothing, nothing Ozz. Just chill."

"Guys," Minnow said, exasperated, "Can we not do this now?"

From my far left I could hear one of the guys, Iggy if I'm right, whisper, "Jeez, no wonder that escape failed. They are the embodiment of ADD."

Gazzy and Nudge snickered at his comment

Great, we hadn't even been there for five minutes and already they thought we were a joke. This couldn't happen, somehow we had to redeem ourselves.

"Um, in case no one has noticed, Max is laying on the ground, shot and bleeding," said Fang, "She needs help."

Everyone quieted immediately. Fang turned back to Max and kneeled by her side. "Where's the bullet hole?"

"Not sure," she answered "but check my left calf."

He lifted her slightly and turned her over on her stomach. Sure enough, there it was, a blood-soaked tear in her jeans. It looked pretty darn bad as far as bullet holes go. No doubt there was some was some muscle damage.

"We need to get the bullet out before she starts to heal," he said calmly, "Dr. Martinez, you think you could…"

The apron lady had a grave look on her face, "I don't think so. Not without the right equipment."

"Dammit," he spat.

"Fang!" Max gasped, "Not in front of Angel."

With all the concern he had he still managed to throw her a look and say: "Max, the kid _reads minds_. There's not much you can hide her from."

The situation didn't look good, not at all. I snuck a peek at Graves but he looked normal, obviously not picking up any deaths. We were safe, for now at least.

"You need equipment? Like a razor?" asked Minnow. "If it's something like that I got 'em." She unsheathed her claws. Dr. Martinez's eyes grew wide and Nudge yelled from a distance.

"Whoa! She's like the X-men!"

"You mean Wolverine," corrected Gazzy.

After the initial shock the Dr. shook her head. "No, sorry. Some tweezers would be better, the razors will only make the area more painful and cause unnecessary damage."

Crud. I checked over to Graves one more time. Still I got an idea.

"So, all you need to do is just get the bullet out causing as little damage as possible?" I asked.

"That would be an ideal situation. If we were to cut through too much we could worsen the damage to her muscle."

My answer didn't skip a beat. " I can do that."

Ignoring the questioning looks I walked over to Max and squatted. "This might feel a little weird but no matter how it feels I need you to keep as still as you can." She nodded and said, "Just do whatever you can." She lay down and became as still as a board. Examining the wound I found the ideal position for entry and phased my hand through her legs. Trust me it's a lot less gross than it seems. It felt kind of like running your hand through a thick liquid. I probed around until a hard hunk bumped against my finger. Max winced. I pinched the bullet between my semi-solid index finger and thumb. Once I had a grip, I made both my hand and the bullet completely intangible. Pulling it out was a breeze.

"Done, it's out." I told Max.

"Good," she groaned.

Dr. Martinez shook off her surprise. She tore a piece of cloth from her apron and tied it around Max's leg to act as a tourniquet.

"So," she said casually, "You guys do anything else?"

"Tons!" yelped Ozzy. "Like, I can morph and Minnow here can stop time on top of the claw thing. And Shady-"

"I control elements, " Shady interrupted "And nullify powers at will."

Dr. Martinez nodded not looking up from Max's leg.

"How about you?" Asked a girl I hadn't really noticed before. She looked like she was about 12. Her features looked remarkably like the Doctor. She was pointing at Smidge.

"I teleport," she replied, "but only to places I've been."

"And him?" The girl said.

"That's Graves." I said quickly. Graves hated kids, and he hated questions even more, needless to say this was not a good combination.

"I sense death." He said in a completely anti-social way. If he could have growled at her he would have. She backed off sensing the animosity in his tone.

An awkward silence fell over the group and soon Dr. Martinez's job was done. Max sat up slowly and struggled to stand. Trying to support her weight on both feet but failed and tumbled to the ground.

"Max," Dr. Martinez said, "You can't walk on the leg until it heals."

"I'm fine mom," Max grunted, "really." She tried to stand again only to have the same outcome as last time. The only difference is that Fang was there to catch her. He grabbed her arm just as her bad leg gave way from under her.

"No, you're not walking. Not without a crutch." He said then slung her arm around his neck for support. I'm not too sure, but I could have sworn I saw Max blush a little, if she did she snapped out of it fast.

"Ok, we need to keep moving. We'll make our way further into the woods then make camp and figure out where to go from there."

Our group trudged further into the forest. We walked in little groups of two or three, Ozzy and Gazzy walked together exchanging jokes. Nudge and Shady were paired and were talking in a super jumble. Smidge walked along side Iggy and Minnow was with Angel, all the while Graves and Fang walked abreast acting all emo and quiet. I went along with Max in complete silence. After a time she was the first to break the air.

"Mira," she said," Why are you here?"

"We need help," I answered, " We had no other choice. You and the flock are the only ones who can help us."

"So, you guys finally managed to break out?"

"Yep."

There was another span of silence. Max was busy scanning the path in front of us, a distant look plastered on her face.

"Look," I sighed, "If it's too much to ask of you just say so."

"It's not," she answered, "I just want to know one thing."

"What?" I asked reluctantly.

"The others. The time stopper, the teleporter, and the shifter, they aren't the same experiments we tried to break out last time. What happened to the others?"

I was afraid of this question. It was not a very pleasant thing to think about. The question was how to I break it to Max?

"They…were made examples of." I said tensely. We left it at that.

* * *

_Eyeliner_Vampire: Oh, jeez guys. I'm sorry for the inconvenience for the long writing period. It was all Dreamers fault! Lol, jk. It was some of mine too. I'll get to writing the next chapter as soon as I'm done with my Latin homework. ;] See ya._

_Fly High._


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